George Michael

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George Michael Empty George Michael

Post  misery guts Mon Dec 26, 2016 1:46 am

One of the greatest British singer / songwriters of the 80s and 90s, yet overwhelmed by depression and a hypocritical gutter press. He was as adept at bouncy life-affirming songs as he was at reflective mournful ones. Now is a good time to remember:

A Ray of Sunshine (live) (Wham!)

A Different Corner

Praying For Time

You Have Been Loved (live)

John and Elvis are Dead

RIP Sad affraid pale
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Post  misery guts Mon Dec 26, 2016 10:08 am

So what next?

New album and film to come?
George, who passed away at his Oxfordshire home on Christmas Day, had hinted that his new album was almost completed, and would be released in 2017.
His chosen collaborator, Naughty Boy - who’s previously worked with such stars as Beyonce and Emeli Sande - had revealed in a BBC News interview that George had responded to his professional request in the last year.
In addition, George was planning to re-release ‘Listen Without Prejudice 25’ on his old label Sony Music, with whom he famously battled in court for creative freedom in the 1990s, but with whom harmony has long been restored. 
Most poignantly, he was putting the finishing touches to a documentary film to accompany the album. The film is currently slated for release in March 2017, but clearly its future will have to be decided following his death. 
In the short term, I would expect Last Christmas to be in with a big shout of finally reaching #1 on Friday.
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Post  misery guts Wed Dec 28, 2016 8:14 am

A few news stories about his wealth and generosity:

George Michael’s Huge Net Worth Allowed Extraordinary Generosity
Having plenty of money left over even after funding his own luxurious lifestyle, Michael gave freely and often to charitable causes — and, in most cases, requested his donations be kept anonymous. Following his death, an outpouring of stories from grateful individuals has been coming to light showing just how generous the superstar was.
He was a bloody smart bloke, and a bloody nice one too. Given the rotten press he was usually splattered with, it's no wonder he got depressed. But at least he knew how to use his money and power.
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Post  misery guts Wed Dec 28, 2016 8:40 am

Discovering: George Michael
He had the skill to make the best of Wham!, and then to move up into a serious solo career. But there were record company troubles, and then a welter of personal issues, and his ability has become rather drowned over the years (though a new(-ish) album is due out soon).

George Michael - at the Palais Garnier, Paris
A show plugging both his recent 'Symphonica' album, and paying tribute to producer Phil Ramone, who he worked with and whom he respected greatly (also a gig raising support for the fight against AIDS). It's a quirk that such a great singer-songwriter should do so many covers, although he has got a fine voice, and he does at least make them his own.

(this latter was repeated last night by way of tribute)
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Post  misery guts Wed Dec 28, 2016 9:08 am

TOTP2: Wham! Special
An abrupt half-hour showing footage of the early-80s legends on Top of the Pops, complete with unnecessary sarcastic intros from DJ Mark Radcliffe. At least the songs were mostly very good, though it is amusing to see how their 'political' angle was dropped pretty quickly.

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Post  misery guts Tue Jan 03, 2017 8:04 am

That Wham! special was repeated by the BBC with no clue about how disrespectful it was (or maybe they did).

Meanwhile, Andrew Ridgeley is objecting to a press campaign to reissue Careless Whisper with the money going to charities. Since the paper in question was one of those which vilified George in his lifetime, the hypocrisy is staggering. Andy's complaint is that using one of George's own solo records would be more appropriate than just one from Wham (though I know in the USA it was released as "Wham featuring George Michael").
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Post  misery guts Sun Jan 08, 2017 8:57 am

MTV Unplugged: George Michael
A great gig from Three Mills Studio, London, in 1996. I remember some of this footage being used for videos for some of his latter singles from Older. I didn't realise (or had forgotten) that I Can't Make You Love Me is a Bonnie Raitt cover, I suspect others have covered it under the assumption it was his song. He seems in good spirits and good voice, and as with the latter Symphonica concert, is not backward in urging the audience on to get involved.
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Post  misery guts Thu Feb 23, 2017 8:02 am

The Brit Awards paid tribute by getting Coldplay's Chris Martin to have a bash at A Different Corner. Perhaps we should be grateful they didn't get Bruno Mars in to add another to his collection.

Andrew Ridgeley and Wham!'s backing singers Pepsi & Shirlie expressed sorrow and gratitude for their fallen friend and band-mate, though Sad
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Post  misery guts Mon Mar 13, 2017 7:58 am

Having established last week that he died of "natural causes", it looks like his funeral will take place maybe this week, and then the questions of his estate will follow:

A house for a sister
George Michael has left his £10 million north London home to his favourite sister, it's been claimed. 
The pop icon, who passed away on Christmas Day from natural causes, and sister Melanie Panayiotou, 55, are said to have always been very close.

And following his death, she has reportedly moved into his Highgate property while she plans his funeral with other family members.

The Wham! star's other sister, Yioda, 57, is also believed to be getting a large chunk of his estimated $105 million fortune.
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Post  misery guts Fri Mar 31, 2017 6:44 am

The Last Days of George Michael
Andrew Ridgeley made clear he wasn't happy with this, but it seemed the usual run-through of George's story. There were a couple of tabloid journalists defending their actions, but it was mainly friends, neighbours, medics and colleagues speaking up for him. The notion of more music to come was quashed, and his hatred of the press came through loud and clear.

He was finally buried on Wednesday the 29th Sad
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Post  misery guts Fri Sep 08, 2017 6:54 am

So a "new" single has come out, although it's a Nile Rodgers remix of an old track really:

Fantasy

It's being talked up as coming from the Faith LP, but as I bought that the other week, I can tell you it ain't from 1987. In fact, it seems to be from a 2011 reissue of that LP. Anyway, Nile obviously ain't 100% committed since he's made "I ain't sure about this" noises of equivocation.
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Post  misery guts Sat Oct 14, 2017 1:26 am

'Fantasy' flopped as a single.

There's a new documentary coming on Monday, which George was working on before he died. Among other topics, he regrets his feud with Sony, and Christmas was always a time of great sadness for him Crying or Very sad
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Post  misery guts Wed Oct 25, 2017 7:35 am

His reissued version of LWP is likely to be a new #1 album tomorrow.

Freedom
George was apparently close to finishing making this when he died. It deals with his relief that he made it a success with the Faith album, but then the mixed troubles he had with Listen Without Prejudice, when he suddenly decided he'd had enough of being in videos and wouldn't do interviews to promote it. Sony UK accepted it, Sony US did not. And so on. Many friends, fans and collaborators got in on it, although I was surprised at the view that Praying For Time was his John Lennon homage (with Heal The Pain being a Paul McCartney homage). Anyway, an emotional tribute now.

George Michael - Live In London
Shown with the above, an hour from his 25 Live Tour in 2009, which might have been much better in my view. His MTV Unplugged or Symphonica shows were far superior.
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Post  misery guts Sat Oct 28, 2017 1:09 am

misery guts wrote:His reissued version of LWP is likely to be a new #1 album tomorrow.
So it is. Some minor angle that whereas in 1990 it sold 420k of CDs to hit the top, this week it sold 55k. But then such is the business now. Also it was new then!
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Post  misery guts Mon Apr 16, 2018 7:36 am

A blue plaque has been unveiled today at his old school:

You Have Been Loved
Terry Daniels of the George Michael Appreciation Society, who organised the installation, described it as "a dream come true".
The school's executive principal Jeremy Turner said it would "inspire" pupils.
Quite.

Happier news than the ongoing spat between George's lover Fadi, and his siblings, over the inheritance of his estate Embarassed
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Post  misery guts Wed Jul 11, 2018 7:15 am

Video Killed The Radio Star: George Michael
Audio of George at least helped this motley bunch of Tony Hadley, Robert Elms and Malcolm Gerrie in their eulogising of the videos for Faith, Freedom '90 and Fast Love (the directors of the latter, Vaughn & Anthea, were also present). Mercifully they left out the story of Aretha Franklin being a diva on set of their duet.
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Post  misery guts Wed Jul 25, 2018 9:06 am

The Double Life of George Michael
Lengthy new doc broadcast around the time of what would have been his birthday, contrasting the public image of the outgoing rock star, and the private life of a tormented depressive. He felt his talent made him if not untouchable, then too popular to fail. He found love and lost it, then found it again. His problems really stemmed back to the Faith album, and his distaste for the touring treadmill.

Britain's Favourite George Michael Songs
A rundown shown in accord with the above, covering both his solo and Wham! days.

15 Wham Rap! (Enjoy What You Do)
14 Outside
13 I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me)
12 Young Guns (Go For It)
11 Freedom '90
10 Fastlove
09 Jesus To A Child
08 Wake Me Up Before You Go Go
07 Praying For Time
06 Club Tropicana
05 A Different Corner
04 Freedom
03 Faith
02 Last Christmas
01 Careless Whisper

Larry King Now - Geri Halliwell
This seemed to be a repeat from a year ago, at a time when Geri was doing a tribute single "Angels In Chains" to mark George's birthday last year. She also spoke about the Spice Girls, inevitably, that R&B wasn't her thing, she rated Harry Styles and Winston Churchill. There's more to America than New York and Los Angeles. She considered herself a writer who sings. That single must have bombed.
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Post  misery guts Wed Mar 13, 2019 3:33 pm

Big week of music auctions; tomorrow (Thurs) sees some of George's art collection going up for sale:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-47552136

Among the 200 exhibits are a colour-changing portrait of the star by Michael Craig-Martin, a dove preserved in formaldehyde by Damien Hirst, and a life-size bronze gorilla by Angus Fairhurst, which used to live in Michael's garden.

Nice  cyclops
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Post  misery guts Sat Mar 16, 2019 1:36 am

The auction apparently raised £11m for charitable causes.
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Post  misery guts Mon Apr 08, 2019 6:36 am

misery guts wrote:The auction apparently raised £11m for charitable causes.
Auction: The George Michael Collection
Ponderous, despite only being a half-hour show, as examples from the collection, which covered the Young British Artists like Emin and Hirst, as well as older names like Riley. Preview exhibitions drew a lot of attention. All items were sold, and they raised £9m, plus a further £2m from online sources.
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Post  misery guts Mon Aug 19, 2019 8:03 am

There's a new drama possibly using his music rather than his story, coming up, possibly called Last Christmas. BUT It will also debut some new and unheard material of George's too. Just 1 track probably, but these things are relative.
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Post  misery guts Fri Nov 01, 2019 8:04 am

Cheltenham Literature Festival: Andrew Ridgeley
He's got his book out, but it only runs up to the end of Wham in 1986 (critics might say not a lot happened after then for him anyway). His family were expelled from Egypt during the Suez crisis (his surname isn't Ridgeley, just as George's wasn't Michael). Wham was a joint endeavour. This month marks 40 years since they made a commitment to the band (Andrew had disconnected from his education, and chose to leave; coincidentally beating his school to the punch of asking him to leave). George's hair issues sometimes held things up. He didn't expect George to disclose his sexuality. He spoke about doing Band Aid and Live Aid. Neither of them wanted a reunion, as Wham was a young person's project. There was a lengthy Q&A, starting with some cheeky woman asking him to buy her book, never mind his!
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Post  misery guts Fri Dec 27, 2019 10:04 am

Sad news that his sister Melanie has just died at the age of 55. It's 3 years since her brother died:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-50928067
Melanie and George - whose mother Lesley died in 1997 - are survived by their father Kyriacos, known as Jack, and their oldest sister Yioda, 57.

RIP  Sad
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Post  misery guts Wed Sep 23, 2020 8:26 am

The Price of Fame
I thought this might be a rehash of previous efforts, but doesn't seem so. That contributors included Wham's manager Simon Napier-Bell was the zenith, backing singers Janey Lee Grace and Zee Asha, plus the guy who played sax on Careless Whisper, seem like cheap bookings.
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Post  misery guts Sat Jan 07, 2023 3:54 pm

Behind The Music - George Michael
There were a number of these repeated of late. This 2004 edition benefitted from George being present (he would have been doing this to help push his then-fresh album Amazing). His father was a surprising contributor (his angle was that he opposed George's musical journey, but came round eventually once he realised how well it went). Shirlie Kemp could at least offer some Wham! era insights. His then partner Kenny Goss also featured. His 1998 outing and response filled rather a bit of time, perhaps inevitably.
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